When Should You Get a Tummy Tuck?

Depending on when you want to be ready, summer might be the best time for a tummy tuck. But that won’t necessarily always be true for everyone. There are a lot of variables to consider when deciding when you should get a tummy tuck.

Is Summer the Best Time for a Tummy Tuck?

Advertisers are certainly telling you to be “beach ready,” but is summer the best time for a tummy tuck? First and foremost, the term “beach ready” is quite problematic. You shouldn’t have to do anything to get “beach ready,” necessarily—and you shouldn’t feel as though you need to lose weight or increase fitness to enjoy a day some sand and sun.

When Should You Get a Tummy Tuck?

That said, there are certainly people out there who feel uncomfortable with the way their bodies look. There are certain aspects of one’s body that simply cannot be changed via diet or exercise. That can be especially troubling for some people. So one way to look at this is not necessarily as a “tummy tuck to get beach ready”—that’s not what we’re after.

But there are some people out there who will feel more comfortable with their bodies, broadly speaking, after a tummy tuck. Even taking all of that into account, is summer the best time for a tummy tuck? Depends what you’re after?

What Does a Tummy Tuck Do?

Put simply: a tummy tuck is designed to eliminate excess skin from around the belly. This excess skin can develop for any number of reasons, such as a significant weight loss or due to pregnancy. Sometimes, that excess skin just develops over the course of your natural aging process. Whatever the reason for it, this excess skin tends to stick around.

Eliminating excess skin happens somewhat naturally when you’re young. Your skin, at that point, has a natural elasticity to it that helps it to bounce back. But as you age, that elasticity evaporates. That means when your skin stretches, it tends to stay stretched. That’s true even if, beneath all that skin, you’re fit as a fiddle.

A tummy tuck removes that excess skin. Surgeons usually do this in a very deliberate, strategic way, removing skin from areas that will be most effective. In some cases, that even means giving the patient a new belly button (more or less). Additionally, surgeons can go in and add a little extra structure to the admonimal muscles (which tend to become loose over time). The end result is usually a tummy that is firm looking and fit.

Should You Get a Tummy Tuck in the Summer?

The question of when to get a tummy tuck can be particularly tricky to answer. That’s because a much will depend on your own particular schedule and where you are. Dr. Mark Bosbous, a tummy tuck surgeon in Milwaukee, might see the number of patients go up in the summer—but that’s because people tend to have a lot of spare time in those summer months, not because it’s conducive to healing.

As you’re planning your tummy tuck surgery (and when to have the procedure performed), you should be cognizant of these things:

Your recovery might mean you’ll have to be inside for several weeks over the course of the summer (this means you might miss out on some of that beach season)

You should give yourself a few months before your “show date” to fully recover; that is, if you want to be ready for June 1st beach season, you should have your tummy tuck several months before June

Recovery from plastic surgery can sometimes be unpredictable, so you’ll want to give yourself plenty of wiggle room

You’ll need to take two or three weeks off of work, so you’ll want to arrange your surgery around the most convenient time to take PTO (if possible)

You really need to choose a window that works best for you

Avoid the Sun

The only reason to avoid getting a tummy tuck in the summer is that you might be tempted to do your recovery out by the pool, almost like it’s a little vacation. The only problem is that this can impede the healing process (and make any incision scars stand out).

The heat is also something of a damper on your recovery process (sweating more particularly). That doesn’t mean you need to avoid having your tummy tuck performed in June or July or any of the summer months. It just means you should focus on staying indoors during your recovery period.

Your surgeon should give you very personalized recovery instructions, so you’ll know exactly what you’re in for and how to prepare and take care of yourself. The best time to get a tummy tuck might be summer for you—or it might be in November. The best way to find out for sure it to talk to your plastic surgeon today.